The True Heart of Kingdom Hearts
by Kazi-Kun
Summary: FF7ACKH2SM Cross over! Whispers that cut deeper than any blade ring deep where my soul should be. Am I truly what they say I am or am I something else entirely? Please, someone tell me...WHAT AM I!
1. Chapter 1

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

Kingdom Hearts II

Sailor Moon

"The True Heart of Kingdom Hearts"

_They all call me names. Names that are meant to hurt and cut me. They say horrible things about me and my world. I thought I was just like them but they continue to whisper behind my back. I thought they were my friends, my family. I guess I thought wrong…_

_They call me "monster" because of my power. They call me "demon" because of my weapon. They call me "beast" because of my history. They call me "Heartless" because I don't fear the darkness. They call me "Nobody" because of the way I fight. They call me "Remnant" because of the way I act._

_They never let me have any peace. Not even my heart won't let me be. I feel like something is very, VERY wrong. But what it is exactly escapes me. I watch the stars and every night, there seems to be one less and my heart aches. What is happening?_

_I had better go ask someone about this…_

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Oh, Xen-lookie what I got you." A boy's sing-song voice said to a girl with light brown hair in a semi ponytail. She turned, her white hair bow, white t-shirt and denim jumper skirt rustling in the gentle wind with her hair. Tucking her 2 braids behind her ear, she smiled at her friend with bright eyes framed by glasses.

"What is it, Roxas?" Xen asked the blond boy who had his hands behind his back as she got off the wall she had been standing on. Her white thigh high socks and blue ankle boots made her look more like she was dressed for school than the boy. "What are you hiding behind your back?"

"Ta-da! Sea salt ice cream!" Roxas showed her a light blue ice cream bar.

"Olette, Pence and Hayner couldn't come today. You know that, Roxas." Xen told him, leaning against the wall. Roxas's big grin faded a bit.

"That's okay. I only got two bars." Roxas showed her the other one. "Here, I got it for you."

Xen was surprised but she took the ice cream Roxas offered her as he began licking the other one. The salty sweet chill touched her tongue as soon as she got a taste. She returned to looking out at the people milling about below, staring off into space.

"Is there something wrong, Xen?" Roxas asked softly.

"It's…it's nothing." Xen mumbled, looking down. He had known Xen too long to buy that lie for a second.

Roxas nudged her with his elbow. "Come on, you know you can tell me." Xen bit into her ice cream, trying to avoid answering. "I promise on my heart, mind and soul that I won't slip to Pence, Hayner or Olette whatever you tell me. It'll be our little secret, no matter how big it is."

Xen took another bite of ice cream, trying to find the right words. "I…I keep…I keep having this dream…and it's the same dream every night."

"A dream can't hurt you. You know that." Roxas assured her as they started to walk around Twilight Town, still eating their ice cream. "You're usually the one telling me that."

"I know, I know-but I can't shake the feeling that it's more of a memory. Like-like I've lived it before." She explained with a sigh as they eventually reached the clock tower that over looked their hometown.

"Well, tell me what it's about. Maybe I can help." Roxas sat on the edge of the wall, facing the clock.

"It starts out the same way. I'm about 6 or 7 years old and I'm running around a big house with a child the same age as I am. I think it's a boy but I can't be sure." Xen sat next to Roxas but faced away from the clock face, looking out over the town. "He and I are then running around in a garden with pillars and arches. More than one person was watching he and I play. I trip and fall on the rock path leading to the house and the boy goes back to help me up before the guards can even get one step from their posts."

Roxas put his hand on her shoulder to urge her to continue. "And then we rush into the future. That boy is older now but he's helping my up from falling on the ground like when we were children. He has this weird sword in one hand and is helping me up with the other. I can only see the lower half of his face but I know it's him. He and I are dressed in black and he reaches behind me and pulls something over my head." Xen fiddled with her bare ice cream stick, staring off into the distance. "He then escorts me somewhere with my hand on top of his, like I'm important or something. I take a step forward and the ground disappears from beneath my feet. The boy reaches for me as I drop and I can hear him call my name…"

"Then what happens, Xen?" Roxas put his hands on hers, facing the same way as her, looking at Twilight Town before looking at her. "What happened while you fell?"

"I keep falling and suddenly the ocean is below me with a storm raging above it. I fall from the storm and towards a massive wave that starts to become a monster. As I fall into its jaws…" Xen took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "…the terror that makes my heart pound like crazy, makes me choke and I fall out of bed coughing my head off."

"That's pretty bad, Xen." Roxas put his arm around her shoulders. "But it was only a dream. Even if it wasn't a dream, I'll protect you. I'll always protect you. I promise." He cupped her cheek with his hand and turned her face so she'd look at him. "I'll never let anything happen to you. I promise forever and eternity."

He crashed his lips into hers, sealing his promise to her. Pulling away, Roxas realized they were standing and he was holding her hands in his. Xen had a blush coloring her cheeks but Roxas only smiled, tucking her braids behind her ear. Suddenly she jerked back from him and pushed to the side. Roxas didn't see anyone beside him but he dropped to his stomach and reached for her.

_"XEN!"_


	2. Chapter 2

Ah, at long last I can update SOMETHING! Anyway, here's who reviewed:

**SesshyLover180:** THanks! Here's chapter 2!

**Mew-Aqua-Spirit:** Who "Xen" is will kinda come to light in this chapter but more will be revealed as the story goes on.

**Victoria Noble:** Xen? A scout? Uh, look at answer above.

* * *

She sat up fast in her bed gasping for air. Her long black hair was damp with her sweat and her pajamas were soaked. She threw her covers aside and left her room, going through the darkened corridors to the darkest part of the Crystal Palace, the Observation Laboratory.

The Observation Laboratory was a tower that belonged to the Watcher of Balance, Akira Hoshiyomi. Akira was the only one of the Palace that didn't placate her like the original Senshi did or whisper behind her back like the younger ones did. He had white hair that was cut short but his long bangs covered his left eye, which was rumored to be red. His blue eye was visible and sparkling. He always wore suits with cloaks rather than jackets and he always called her by his special pet name for her. He loved seeing her no matter what time of day or night it was-or in whatever she was wearing.

She reached the doors that led into his tower and before she even knocked, Akira opened the door. He was surprised to see her at his door and so disheveled from her run to his tower.

"Princess, whatever is the matter?" He asked worriedly. She opened her mouth to answer but he held up a hand to stop her. "Perhaps it's better to say inside my chambers." He offered her a hand to lead her in. "Please, Princess. Do come in."

She took his hand and let him pull her gently into the room. She looked around at the giant spinning rings that were moving lazily around a seat and seemed to pass through the telescope the seat was there for. It was up out of the way, close to the starry ceiling that mimicked the sky outside. Wondrous objects, artifacts and instruments filled the room's shelves and wall space, showing what other cultures on other worlds were like.

A staircase hugged the wall and curved upward to the next floor. No one had been up there, not even she had. She assumed that was Akira's private chambers. With a wave of his hand, a gazebo sitting in a field of flowers came from the floor and the walls seemed to disappear. The staircase still remained and so did that odd-as-hell telescope that was still moving lazily overhead. A table with 2 chairs and a tea set rose from the floor of the gazebo and a path wound to where they where standing. She looked behind her and saw the space around the doors was still the same. Her reflection made her look herself over in the mirror by the door.

Her long black hair went a little passed her hips and 2 braids came from above her left temple with her bangs falling over her right eye. Her eyes were a deep haunting amethyst hue with a red tint if the light hit them just right. Her skin was porcelain colored and her long nightgown was violet with thin straps and semi scoop neck collar. She looked scared but not as scared as she felt.

"Princess, come with me to the gazebo. A cup of tea will calm your nerves." Akira said kindly as stones paved the path. She threaded her arm through his and he led her to the table, letting her sit down first. As he sat across from her, the teapot actually poured itself and cream and sugar stirred itself in with a spoon that didn't need her help.

"Now, you were about to tell me something. Since I know no one can ease drop on us in here, please, by all means, Princess-tell me, what brings you to me at such a late hour?" Akira asked as his cup baring saucer floated in his hand.

"I…I had that dream again." She muttered as she caught her own saucer and lifted the cup to her lips to sip the tea. "It's the one where I'm fighting on Saturn and I get stabbed through the stomach and then I seem to fall into an abyss behind me…"

"Princess, it is merely a dream." Akira assured her, like he had time and time before. He never said it to placate her but to genuinely ease her uneasiness.

"There…there was something _new_ this time." That got Akira's attention from his tea. "…a voice follows me as I fall. I don't know what they're saying but I know they're speaking to me…do you think it's a memory?"

Akira set his tea cup down and looked at her with his blue eye. He took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. "Princess, I won't lie to you-for I am the last person in the universes that would, you know that-but it is very unlikely that you dying and then falling into a bottomless pit of darkness-that seems _very_ unlikely. You have never died like that on your planet or by one of your people or weapons. You are the last Saturian, Princess."

"Why do you call me 'Princess' all the time?" She asked like she would when her troubles ran deeper than they should. "Why don't you use my name like everyone else?"

"I choose to call you 'Princess' because you are a Princess to me. As for calling you 'Hotaru' like 'everyone else'-I'm afraid that it doesn't strike me as appropriate for someone who acts more royal than the actual royals who talk behind your back."

"They don't talk behind my back." Hotaru said a little too quickly. Akira looked at her with that all-knowing blue eye and it made her slump against her chair's back and look away. "…okay, so maybe they do…"

"Yes, they do. There's no 'maybe' about it, Princess." Akira said seriously, his hands woven together on his lap as he sat slightly to the side. The little table was made more for Hotaru whose legs weren't as long as Akira's. "I know the names they call you. I know how they treat you. You know that you can't lie to me. I can see straight into your Heart of Hearts."

"That's my line." Hotaru muttered with a small smile that was winning the suppression she was trying to put it under. Akira's one eye sparkled with the graceful half smile his lips were curved with.

"Princess, now that you're feeling a little better, I'd like you to take a look at something." Akira took something from a small warp in the air above the table and handed it to Hotaru. She looked curiously at whatever it was as she took it from him.

"These are photographs. What's so important about these?" Hotaru asked shuffling slowly through the small collection of photos.

"What can you tell me about the first one?" Akira asked as she went through the small stack and was back at the top again.

Hotaru looked at the photo, trying to see what he was seeing. "There are five kids, 2 girls and 3 boys. One of the girls has glasses and is dressed like she's going to school. The other is more in summer clothing. The first boy is kind of dressed like a punk or maybe a trouble maker. The second's more on a hiphop kind of trip."

"And the 3rd boy?" Akira inquired.

"The third boy…" Hotaru looked at his likeness captured by the first girl. He seemed familiar but from where had she seen him before? Akira was waiting for an answer. She had to give him one. "The third boy is kinda leaning towards comfort, battle and personality, like he's a soldier with orders to blend in."

Akira crossed his legs, making himself a little more comfortable. "A soldier with orders to blend in." He repeated slowly. "It seems to me that he's just like you, Princess. You dress in clothes that reflected your past whether or not you remember it." Hotaru looked down at the photo again. "Tell me about the next one."

"It's of the 2 girls making friendship bracelets on the floor of some hangout of some kind." Hotaru felt a slight longing when she looked at that picture.

"And the next one?"

"It's the 3 boys wrestling in the same place." She answered, wondering why these seemed familiar. She must've seen them in a book somewhere. She did read a lot after all. That happened when no one would hang out with her unless it was to get something.

"And what of the next?" He didn't rush her nor did he seem bored. Hotaru looked at the fourth picture. It was almost moving, like it was a tiny screen's image of a movie.

"The first girl is on top of a hill somewhere, watching the sunset. And…and that 3rd boy is with her. He's standing beside her and it's almost like he's in love with her." Akira motioned for her to move on to the next one. As she did, a beach scene came to greet her.

A sandcastle, a large really detailed one, stood behind a pair of sand thrones that were topped with crowns for the King and Queen. The 1st girl and 3rd boy sat on them in swimsuits with big smiles on their faces. The friendship bracelets from the 2nd photo, the one the first girl had been making, were on his left wrist and her right. "They're at the beach and they're the king and queen of a castle they made. It's the same pair as the sunset pic."

"Do continue, Princess. You're on quite a roll." Akira urged kindly. Why he wanted her input on these pictures were beyond her but she knew he was getting to something. He was just taking the scenic route as usual.

"It's a summer festival and the kids are all together but it seems that this boy and girl are more than just friends but they don't realize it." They were holding hands, the hands that had the friendship bracelets on their wrists. She had a toy of some kind in her other arm and he was smiling like he had won it for her. The 5 of them were eating a blue-ish colored ice cream as they stood close for the photo. It kind of hurt to see that these 5 friends were so happy. Why couldn't her life be like that?

Sniffing back tears, Hotaru flipped to the next picture. "The boy won a trophy and each of them have a marble off of it. The 2nd girl has the yellow one, the 2nd boy has green, the 1st has red and…"

"What of the 'happy couple'?" The Observer questioned. "What color do they have?"

"He has blue and she…she had a white on but it's more of a star that was on top of the trophy." She answered, moving the picture to the back of the pile. The final picture was what finally broke her heart. A heart carved into stone had two names written in the center:

ROXAS + XEN FOREVER AND INFINITY

"What does the final picture show, Princess?" Akira asked softly, gently as a tear slid down her cheek.

"It's a declaration of love carved into stone. It's for the boy and girl-for Roxas and Xen. They're not in the picture but it's…it's there instead."

Akira's gentle fingers wiped the tears on her cheek away. "It would seem they touch you where there has been nothing before."

"Akira, who gave these to you?" Hotaru asked softly. "Who did these belong to?"

"They were on the ground by the face of a clock in a place called 'Twilight Town'. This was with it." Akira uncurled his fingers and showed her his palm. Xen's friendship bracelet stood out from his skin. Hotaru timidly took it from him and looked at it in closer detail. "It would seem that Xen had left them behind but that's not what bothers me. According to her friends-and to Roxas, Xen never existed."

Hotaru looked up at him. "What do you mean? These items are proof that she did exist! There's no way around it! Xen existed! She and Roxas were in love!"

"True, how very true." Akira nodded slowly, understanding why Hotaru wasn't accepting this. "But Roxas, who has mellowed out quite a lot, feels like something-or someone-is missing from his life. He has no idea what that would be but he feels it all the same. He's like you, Princess. Perhaps you should write him a letter, fill that void in his heart."

"But that's Xen's place! She'll come back to him!" Hotaru looked down at the bracelet and the last photo. "…won't she, Akira?"

"That is not for me to say, Princess."

Hotaru looked down at the objects in her hands. She closed her eyes and held them to her heart. "Akira, am I…am I truly a monster?"

Akira rose and knelt on one knee, lifting her chin to have her look him in the eye. "Princess, you are not a monster. You are far from human-that is true-but that does _not_ mean that you are a monster. You are the last of your kind, the last Saturian."

An odd chime like gong filled the air, making Akira look up alarmed. The gazebo's roof disappeared and the sun returned to being the intergalactic crystal chandelier that lit his chamber before the ceiling returned to its night's sky appearance. Akira seemed very alarmed as a star started to flicker. He stood as the sky came rushing down and grew to be much larger than the stars being pinpricks of light.

Hotaru's chair slowly grew taller then gently tipped her on to her feet to stand before it and everything else disappeared as dust in a nonexistent wind. Getting scared, Hotaru clung to Akira's side with one hand, the photos and bracelet in the other at her chest. Akira put a hand on her back as a comet streaked by, making her scream in surprise.

"Akira, what's going on? What was that sound?" Hotaru asked as Akira's one visible eye locked onto a flickering star. The star came before Akira, hovering at chest level. Hotaru watched the star as it's light began to dim and a world was revealed. "What is that star? I don't recognize it from any of the Library's charts."

"That's because that so-called Library is merely a book shelf compared to the knowledge I have and collected over the centuries and millennia. It's also why I absolutely despise it when you insist on reading those pitiful novellas of nonsense and censored bullshit." He answered never looking away from this odd planet. "This is a place that was once home to millions of innocent lives."

"Was?" Hotaru repeated curiously.

"Just watch." Akira's voice was soft. Hotaru watched as the light dies down slowly and the buildings grew dark, menacing then decayed. That's when a wave of darkness, of shadow rose and engulfed the world, flattening everything then the star imploded on itself in a dark flash of light. Hotaru dropped the photos and bracelet as her hands flew to her mouth. Another chime like gong, but much louder, rang through the tower.

"Akira, what was those sounds? What happened to that star?" Hotaru looked up at him, looking fearful and distressed.

"Those were alarms. The first alerted me to a new threat and the second was for a tip in the Balance." Akira answered looking down at her with calm features and compassion in his visible eye.

Hotaru remembered what Akira had explained to her years ago when she was a child. "But isn't the Balance the reason we're all alive? Doesn't it mean the evening between the Light and Darkness? So that one doesn't become more powerful than the other? So Cosmos and Chaos don't wipe each other out?"

"That's right. You've been paying attention to my teachings. Good girl." Akira gave her a pleased half smile. "And that means that you're ready, at long last, to once again take up your old position for me."

"Old position?" The Saturian girl repeated with a note of curiosity in her voice. Akira gently took her hand in his like he was helping down a set of stairs and he lead her to the curving staircase as the sky returned to hang above them. "What old position?"

Akira's pace was brisk and Hotaru fluidly jogged beside him. The way she moved made you think she was actually floating rather than jogging. He led her up the stairs that rose above the night's sky. Hotaru looked down at it and saw it was now showing the Earth from space. It was breathtaking but Hotaru didn't have time to see what continent they were over since Akira led her to a pair of double French doors that opened on their own.

There wasn't a bed inside, but 12 mirrors with the Greek Zodiac signs at the top and several more mirrors that were different sizes and were covered. They lined the 2 walls leading to a pair of tall, white French Doors with crescents, stars and suns in gold scrawl work. Hotaru could feel omnious power coming from those doors. She wanted to stay far from them. It didn't matter that there were thick gold chains spanning the doors to kept them closed. She knew that big gold lock had a key and it was tucked in Akira's inner vest pocket.

She stopped, not going any farther. "I'm not going anywhere near those doors. There's something about them that shouldn't be tampered with and I'm not going anywhere near them."

"Princess, I'm afraid you have no choice." Akira sighed heavily, wearily. "I can't allow you to stay here while the Balance is threatened. I can't use the power I was given. I must give them to someone else, to a chosen someone else who has no copy, no other self in any other existence."

"An other existence? You mean like in a different Dimension?"

"Yes, a different dimension. I watch something called the Crossroads of Dimensions for I am Janus, the Dimensional Knight." Akira explained as he turned to face her. The 12 mirrors rose up to the ceiling, which had a copy of the starry sky as well. Hotaru looked up at him. "I…I had a Protector once, my chosen one to receive the powers I could not use myself and do the fighting for me. My Protector would fight me on going on missions, fight the fact that I kept pulling this person from the normal life they so rightly deserved. I needed them, and I just brushed off every one of their complaints."

"But what does this have to do with me?" Hotaru was so innocent, so…so unexpecting about her role in this.

"My Protector always succeed with any task I dished out and only came away with more or less minor injuries and forgotten, if not painful reminders. They walked away from every single fight. All but one." Akira's hands became fists and he closed his eyes, like remembering was painful for him. "That one fight cost my Protector their life. And it was a fight that I couldn't pull them out of fast enough. I was overridden by a higher power and that power stole the powers I blessed my Protector with, letting the trap that had been set, fall to end her life."

"Which higher power? I've read the books you've lent me, the ones on Janus, and there's only 2 beings higher than yourself." Hotaru put her hand on his arm. "Which one was it? Chaos, right?" Janus/Akira turned his head. "It wasn't Chaos so that means…" It was like an uncomfortable light turning on. "…oh…you loved her, didn't you? That's why it causes you so much pain to talk about it." Janus looked at her surprised. And then all the lights officially went on. "I was your Protector, the trap killed me but I didn't stay dead because…because I'm truly Sailor Saturn-not her daughter."

"Yes, yes-you are the first and last Senshi of Saturn." He nodded softly. "And I need you to take up your old position as my Protector again. Can I pull you from this life to restore the Balance?"

Hotaru looked at the doors then thought about what that would mean, what would happen. Did she really need to think about it after everything she had been through? Did she really need to think about the fact that she'd be doing a whole lot more good out there than she would staying here? Did she really need to think about it when she'd be…no, she didn't need to think it through. She had to do it.

"Why must you ask when you already know the answer?" Hotaru faced him with a small smile. Janus was surprised by the answer but he smiled, his body unknitting. He reached into the inner pocket of his vest and pulled out a 2 inch key that looked so odd on a long silver chain.

"With this key, you'll be able to find and help someone called the Keyblade Master. Stay with him and help him for he will help you and he will need you." He put the chain around her neck, the key barely brushing the top of her belly button when she moved. "You can put it around your waist later, if you need to but keep it with you at all times. Do you understand me?"

"Yeah, I understand." Hotaru nodded, lightly gripping the key.

"Princess, I can't guarantee your safety on this. Someone of the 'Good' Division might intervine again. You'll have to be careful." Akira told her. "Trust your instincts, your body's memory. It'll do you and the Keyblade Master any good if you think before you act. You were made to be the ultimate weapon, Princess. You are skill, ability and lethality embodied."

"I get it, I get it." Hotaru nodded. "How big is the risk?"

"Big enough that I'll have to feed power to you little by little as you and the Keyblade Master fight your way through this." Janus gently gripped her chin. "This means I'll need to bind us together. I am immortal and cannot die but you're vulenerable when you're reborn. I can prevent that. Are you ready?"

"I-I think so, yeah." Hotaru answered honestly.

His hand went to his bangs. "Don't fight me on this."

The white locks of hair moved and his left eye locked on her right. The round pupil instantly became a thin slit, revealing the dark blood red color of the iris. A painful stabbing went through Hotaru's mind as her body felt weak and her knees collapsed beneath her. She fell to the floor like a cast aside doll, no longer able to keep her mind in the light of consciousness.

* * *

Mwhahahaha! The Second chapter! 


	3. Chapter 3

FINALLY! You have NO idea how long it took me to find the damn disk this was on.

Anyway....

**Moh Fai:** Here's the LOOOONG overdue Update. An' about Xen an' 'Taru...that'll have to wait until later.

**Mew Aqua Spirit:** Thank You!

**Taeniaea:** Thank you, too!

**kydedrakes:** A book, huh? PM me the title. I'd like to read it. And the Balance is something I kinda came up with but it's mentioned both the manga and the Anime, usually in passing and by the Outers. The Balance is basically Yin and Yang, good and bad. I usually relate it to Hotaru's element, the Element of Silence, because it is made up of a balance of Cosmic and Chaotic energies. Understand? I f not, PM me. I'll go into deeper explanation.

* * *

Oh, how her head was ringing. Whatever Janus had done to her, it had given Hotaru one hell of a headache. It was official-once she got her hands on him, she was going…oh, ow…shouldn't've moved her head that fast. And her right eye was burning. What did he do to her?

"Well, at least now the rumors of having a red eye are confirmed as truth…" Hotaru groaned, pushing herself off her side. "…now all I have to do is confirm what it can do and the others will love me to pieces…ow…how my head hurts…if this is how a hangover feels, I'm never getting drunk on my 18th birthday…"

Hotaru looked down at the ground and saw nothing but darkness beneath her. As her eyes focused on the darkness, it suddenly flew up like billions of shadow birds. She shielded her face with her arms as the shadows sped passed her. Their wings or edges or whatever cut her skin and clothes-even strands of her hair.

"…Stop…Stop!" Hotaru pulsed her power outward in a sphere of translucent amethyst light. The shadows were pushed away and ribbons made of that same light wound around her arms, legs and torso. Her Sailor fuku appeared in her nightgown's place when the ribbons shattered and disappeared.

The shadows had stopped flying and now left a wide circular birth around her as she looked at her gloved hands. It was her mother's…no, it was _her_ Eternal fuku. She was Eternal Sailor Saturn-the original Eternal Sailor Saturn. She curled her gloved hands and looked up at the sky. There was no stars, no moon and no lights in the sky but Hotaru-er, _Sailor Saturn_ could still see. She looked down and saw what looked like red glowing glass. She knelt and brushed the shadows aside to see a white patch of what looked like a sleeve.

Sailor Saturn stood and summoned the-_her_ Silence Glaive. She twirled it, throwing it into the air with one hand. When it came back down, she caught it and hit the butt of her weapon against the glass. The energy she pulsed into the glass floor blew the shadows into the darkness above her head. The Glaive disappeared in a swirl of amethyst ribbons and Saturn saw the likeness of a boy in red, white, black and a few other colors. He had big feet and brown spiky hair. He was holding a giant key like a sword and his eyes were closed.

Saturn knelt and touched the key and felt a burning zing shoot up her arm. "Ow-damn!" She stood and looked at her hand. The glove had burned where she had touched the glass. And the skin underneath was shiny from actually being burned. "It didn't burn me before. Why did it burn me now?" Something gleamed in the light, getting Saturn's attention. It was the key Janus gave her but it looked like the key sword the boy had in his hand. "I wonder how it changed…and how did it appear over my fuku like this?"

That was when her fuku dispersed into ribbons, her damaged nightgown falling around her ankles. The key hit her belly from the ribbons unraveling and Hotaru looked around desperately, feeling a chill in the air. She was bare foot and the glass's energy sent a weird tingling up her legs. A surge raced up her leg, moving beneath her footing and throwing her back on her butt.

"Ow…I'm going to be so stiff after this." Hotaru grumbled. She looked at her ripped skirt and tore it up to her thighs. "If what Janus told me is true, then I'm not only the Senshi of Destruction but of Rebirth, of Creation as well so I should be able to make a pair of slippers and a hair ribbon out of the skirt of my night gown." She clutched the fabric she had torn from her nightgown and closed her eyes. She consentrated and soon her power deposited 2 black slip ons and a long purple hair ribbon into her lap. When she opened her eyes, Hotaru saw what she had done. "Wow…I actually did it. Okay, so put shoes on and pull my hair up out of my face into a semi ponytail…there much better but now I have to fix my nightgown…"

Her power turned her nightgown into a spring dress with bell flower sleeves and bell flower knee length skirt. The key glinted in the glass's light. She even had a purple ribbon around her neck like a choker. She smoothed down the front of her dress and looked around, her Eternal earrings brushing her jaw as she turned.

"I have to get out of here but…but where am I?" Hotaru sighed trying to look around, trying to see passed the window she stood on.

"You're where we all end up, eventually, one day." A voice said behind her. Hotaru wheeled around and saw a man in a black cloak and gloves. She couldn't see his face but she knew that he was the speaker.

"A-and where is this, exactly?" She asked looking at him.

"They call it a Dive into the Heart. You're supposed to face your inner darkness here but you don't have any." He replied, slowly coming towards her. "Why is that?"

Hotaru thought back to what Janus had told her a long time ago. "Janus once told me that I had made peace with what I was, what I had been when my power was in constant struggle with itself."

"But you fear the darkness. I saw the way you reacted when the shadows began to lift. I saw the way they reacted to you, coming towards you instead of away."

Oh, yeah… "I'm afraid of Who it represents rather than it itself."

That made him pause. "Who it represents?"

"Chaos…He's the Dark Powers That Be." Hotaru answered softly, in a low, near mumble. And yet she heard an adult man with a handsome voice smile. She turned around, paling slightly. Crap, He was listening, watching her. That wasn't good. She had pledged her life to Cosmos, to the Light. But He was listening and that meant that He was watching her with nearly undivided attention. The very thought made her shiver.

The cloaked male looked at Hotaru, wondering what the hell was wrong with her. She was the weirdest being he had ever run into. What was really odd was the type of power he sensed from her. It was a mix of light and darkness but neither seemed to have a limit. That itself was unusual. What kind of person could wield power without a limit?

"You're an enigma." He stated plainly, getting Hotaru to turn around to look at him. "How can you exist and yet be nonexistent?"

"Honestly?" He nodded. "I have no idea what you're talking about but I must get out of here. I have a job that I have to do."

"A job? What kind of 'job'?" He inquired, getting suspicious. Hotaru opened her mouth then closed it again. That was actually a very good question. What kind of job had she been sent here to do?

The cloaked male suddenly turned as if he had heard something. "Shit. They're here." He looked at Hotaru then grabbed her wrist. "Come on, I have to get you out of this place before they know you're here."

"How do you expect to do that? I don't even know how I got here." Hotaru replied, feeling a familiar tingle go straight up her arm. He threw his hand to the side and a shadowy portal instantly came to life with a blue-ish light churning inside its core. "What is that?"

"Your ticket out of here."

The young man released her wrist and pushed her into the portal. Hotaru stumbled backwards and fell into the darkness. As the portal closed, Hotaru saw the cloaked male open a second portal for himself in time for more portals to open and letting more cloaked figures on to the large stain glassed window.

Now, all Hotaru could do was fall through the darkness that seemed to press up all around her.

* * *

Now, I wonder who THAT could be.....


End file.
